König & Bauer AG - Addition to KBA Comet at Nation Media Group in Kenya

Nairobi-based Nation Media Group Ltd in Kenya is celebrating its 50th jubilee this year by adding a further four-high tower onto the KBA Comet press it commissioned in early 1997 and subsequently extended several times. The extended press line will be ready for action at East Africa’s leading multi-media enterprise at the end of the year.

In recent years Nation Media Group, which went public in the 1970s, has expanded from its core business of print into television, radio, the internet and logistics. Africa Review, a successful digital news platform, was the first of its kind in the country. Nation Media Group also holds majority stakes in Monitor Publications, Uganda, whose newspaper titles include Daily Monitor and Sunday Monitor, and Mwananchi Communications, Tanzania (Mwananchi, Mwana Spoti and The Citizen).

Broad product spectrum
Alongside the Daily Nation, which is by far the biggest selling newspaper in Kenya with a daily circulation of 200,000 copies, the Comet prints the Sunday edition, the Sunday Nation; a weekly newspaper, The East African, which is distributed in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ruanda; a business title, The Business Daily; and two Swahili titles: Taifa Leo (a daily) and Taifa Jumapili (weekly). A raft of supplements, plus contract work for Kenya and the rest of East Africa, ensure that this internationally popular single-width press is kept busy.

Higher full-colour capacity and pagination
The Comet in Nairobi has a maximum web width of 840mm (33in) and a 578mm (22.75in) cut-off. Following the extension the press line will comprise twelve reelstands, 56 printing couples (six four-high and two two-high towers) and two jaw folders. It is controlled from KBA ErgoTronic consoles with a remote diagnostics link. It can pump out up to 96 broadsheet or 192 tabloid pages, of which 48 and 96 pages respectively can be in full colour.

The Koenig & Bauer Group is one of the largest press manufacturers worldwide and has the broadest press range in the industry. The parent company is Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) with facilities in Würzburg, Radebeul, Frankenthal and Trennfeld (all in Germany).

The other core members of the Group are Maschinenfabrik KBA-Mödling AG in Mödling, near Vienna (Austria), KBA-Grafitec s.r.o. in Dobruška (Czech Republic), KBA-Metronic AG in Veitshöchheim, near Würzburg (Germany), KBA-MetalPrint GmbH in Stuttgart (also Germany) and KBA-GIORI S.A. in Lausanne (Switzerland). KBA North America Inc. in Dallas, Texas (USA), is our sales and service subsidiary for the US and Canada. In addition we have sales and service outlets in the UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Australia, China, Malaysia and Singapore, plus a global network of dealers. The core companies in the Group employ some 7,500 people.